NationStates Jolt Archive

"Violence erupted in the streets today of downtown Lakonia." said the reporter, ducking under an overhang as a shell screeched overhead. "For months the opposition party to emperor Vasili Kotov's regime has been fighting his every decision and sowing the seeds of rebellion in this, West Corinthia's third largest city."

A T-72 tank rolled past the camera and aimed it's turret up to the third story of an apartment building, where fire was pouring down onto Corinthian troops, and blew out a section of the building.

"As you can see," the reporter continued, "the fighting has been going on for some time. Both sides have taken losses, though the fighting has intensified since West Corinthia's new armor arrived from their suppliers." The reporter fell back to a safer region of the city. "For those of you who haven't been watching, this is the result of the opposition party's failed attempt to bring democracy to West Corinthia. They pleaded with Vasili Kotov for more civil rights and political freedoms, and when he seemed like he was going to grant their wishes, this occured."

The camera swept around the city, which was now mostly rubble where great buildings had stood.

Suddenly the Corinthian troops began to fall back. URAL-43206 cargo trucks came into the city and shipped the troops back to the defensive lines around the city. Lakonia was back under siege. The reporter and cameraman got aboard one of the last trucks out of the city.

Back at the command post

"I want that city leveled by morning!" CAF Nikita Aleksivich yelled to a lieutenant.

"Yes, sir." said the frightened man. "I'm sure those new artillery pieces won't have any trouble doing it...but..."

"But what?" the commander probed.

"But what about the civilians? Surely the women? The children?"

"I am not a murderer. I am not responsible for their fates. The opposition party is responsible for their lives now! When they refused to surrender and stand trial, they sealed the fates of everyone in that city. Now do your job, Lieutenant!" The general returned to his maps in the command tent.

The young officer brought the orders to the sergeant commanding the new artillery pieces which were now aimed at 10 strategic positions within the city. Moments later, the AS 90 Braveheart artillery pieces opened up on the city of Lakonia. The barrage continued all night, and the soldiers were only able to sleep through the sounds of explosions from inside the city because they were so exhausted from urban fighting all of the previous week.

At next dawn, the soldiers prepared to go back in. They marched in this time behind cover of T-72 tanks. The artillery then ended it's barrage, the crews thankful they could now get some rest.

This time the city had a different atmosphere. There wasn't a building in sight that had come out of the barrage unscathed. Bodies were seen in the streets, and the tanks rolled by without a notice.

They reached the town's center. The town hall had been avoided purposely, because it was where the Nikita hoped the rebels would make a last stand. They were correct. As soon as the first tank rolled into view a volley of bullets rained down upon it. An RPG hit the tank, knocking off a tread.

The more experienced troops used the rubble as cover from the enemies, but several new recruits ran into the open and were cut down by sniper fire.

A radioman took out his walkie-talkie. "Fire mission." he said into the reciever. "Coordinates 54 degrees west, 68 north. You need to hit the town hall."

In several minutes the roar of jets was heard overhead. 3 Yak 141s flew over and dropped their payloads onto the target. When the dust cleared the town hall was rubble just like the rest of the city.

Troops rushed forth but met no resistance. A total of 87 rebels came out of the buildings basement waving a white flag of surrender. "What should we do?" a Corinthian soldier asked his squad leader.

"Waste 'em." the man replied, and the soldiers killed all 87.

"The city is ours!" a soldier yelled and the rest began singing the Corinthian national anthem.

The reporter who had been documenting the battle was horrified. If the Corinthian general had known he had recorded the incident he would have been hanged for high treason.

This tape has now circulated around the globe, though the government is trying unsuccesfully to downplay the situation. We await the world's response to West Corinthian use of force against a rival political party and the slaughter of many civilians. The government claims it was the only way to end unrest in a major city, and the action was legal since only conventional weapons were used.

OOC: Bump

To the Ambassador of West Corinthia:

Noting the horrific death toll in Lakonia, and the apparent callousness with which opposition figures were killed;

Further noting the relationship we have with West Corinthia;

Keeping in mind the commitment of the former United States, and of The Beltway, to democracy;

and Noting the fact that the reporter who filmed the events that took place in Lakonia would have apparently been executed for treason for the film taken;

The Beltway Condemns the nation of West Corinthia for its actions in Lakonia.

Signed,
Prime Minister Timothy Kaine of The Beltway

West Corinthian government response

We too are shocked by our general's actions. We assure you the reporter's fears were unfounded. As a matter of fact we have recently passed a bill giving free speech to all of our citizens. As for General Nikita's actions, they are most grievous. We have launched an investigation into the matter. As for the supposed killing of surrendering enemies, we have used the tape as evidence against the squad leader who ordered it and he is facing trial by court-martial. Again we assure you we cannot be to blame as a nation for the actions of a few rogue soldiers who have spent many months fighting in a city where anyone could have been a terrorist. Our streets are now safer, though I am shocked at how our victory was achieved. We will update you as to the fate of those under investigation.
-Nikolai Sergevich
Head of Media Relations, The Allied States of West Corinthia

To the Ambassador of West Corinthia -
We hereby request that you relieve General Nikita from active duty until the investigation is complete. Further, we recommend that you bring in outside investigators, given the circumstances. We appreciate your message, yet remain concerned about the situation that led to violence in Lakonia. Why would opposition figures turn to violence?
Sincerely,
Mark Warner, Foreign Minister of The Beltway

To The Beltway,
We have taken your words under consideration. The General has been relieved for the duration of our investigation and replaced by his XO. Foreign investigators are welcome, however this is an internal matter and we do not wish for it to become of global concern. Therefore they will only be given partial access for security purposes.
It is obvious why these people have become so violent. They are obviously terrorists from our East Corinthian territories whose aim it is to embarass and disrupt the legitimate government. Why else would they hide behind the population of an entire city? We gave them a warning to leave the city and many innocent civilians complied, however the ones who stayed knew what they were doing. I'm not trying to defend what our general did, just don't judge him too quickly.
-Nikolai Sergevich
Head of Media Relations, West Corinthia

--Press Release issued by the Public Relations Department of the Beltway Security Force--
The National Police of The Beltway is sending a four-person investigative team to Lakonia to help sort out the details of events there.
--End of Press Release--

At a secret government location

"How could you let this happen?" Vasili screamed at the top of his lungs. "This was supposed to be covered up. No one else was supposed to know!"

"We couldn't possibly kill them all, sire. I apologize. The soldiers didn't notice the reporter filming them. I take full responsibility." Nikita replied.

"We have been friends for many years, Nikita. We served together in the KGB. I picked you to be my second because I thought you wouldn't make any screw ups like this!"

"I am sorry, sire. Let me kill myself. The world will not pin any blame on you!"

"No, it is too late for that. The Beltway is already sending their own investigation team. It's only a matter of time before they find the truth." Vasili's voice lessened up.

"Then I must turn myself in."

"That would seem our only option, but let them at least begin an inquiry. It will seem like you knew they were on your trail."

"I understand, my lord. We cannot afford to lose them as allies. Not over this."

"I'm glad you understand."

Nikita turned toward the door and began to walk away.

"Nikita." Vasili said, getting a brief pause from Nikita's exit. "I'm sorry my friend."

"It is best for the nation. For West Corinthia."

"For West Corinthia." Vasili said and returned to the planning room.

OOC - Four options present themselves, in my mind: one, my investigators find actual evidence of East Corinthian involvement, but for that, we'd need an East Corinthia, or at least someone to RP that nation, so as to allow for diplomatic difficulties possibly resulting in war; two, my investigators are stonewalled by your nation in an exceptionally obvious and offensive way, leading to diplomatic difficulties between our two nations (especially if you can get my investigators jailed); three, my investigation and yours cooperate effectively, leading to arrests, court-martials, and increased respect for your nation by ours; and four, this all boils over as a questionable, but minor incident.

OOC: Well I just put a little minor convo up there I'll think about it and then post something you can respond to probably using one of those options

I think it would be fun to have an RPed East Corinthia and invade them but they are really just a Terrorist state which would make things interesting that plus my military kinda went too far so I'm not innocent

The Quaonese Empire appluads West Corithinia for its harsh treatment of those who would kill innocents. We would like to extend our hand in diplomacy to your fair country, and help rebuild the city that was attacked.

West Corinthia appreciates the praise, though an investigation is underway to see if such force was necesssary.

In the meantime in Kydonia
Excerpt from daily newspaper:
"Shots rang out in the streets in the early afternoon in the business sector of Kydonia, the capital of West Corinthia. Two masked men ran up to CAF Nikita Aleksivich wielding Uzi submachine guns and shot him in the chest 29 times. Special police forces were at the scene in moments. One of the men surrendered on the spot and the other was shot and killed attempting to flee the scene. Nikita was pronounced dead on arrival by paramedics."
"After hours of interrogation the man admitted to being hired by East Corinthian government officials, angered by the loss of Lakonia, which they had hoped to sieze. The actual attack was retaliation for the murder of 87 East Corinthian "civilians" during the "homicide of Lakonia" quoted the man. We are not sure who is right at this time, West or East, maybe neither, but we do know that East Corinthian militants have assassinated the Commander of West Corinthian armed forces."
Later in a televised speech by Emperor Vasili Kotov
"We are outraged by the murder of a leading government official. He was under investigation, but this only stresses the fact that East Corinthia was going to have a chance at FAIR retribution. Now they have proved only that they are a mere terrorist state. I have deliberated with my cabinet, and we have reached a conclusion. Given the circumstances leading up to Nikita Aleksivich's death, we have no choice but to declare a state of war with the terrorist regime of East Corinthia. We ask for all noble nations to contribute to this just cause." The crowd cheered, with several boos mixed in that were quickly drowned out.

OOC: I could RP East Corinthia unless someone else really thinks they should:)

Special Investigator Louis Bradstreet, of the Beltway Security Force, sat morosely in a bar in Lakonia. He dejectedly sipped at his beer, watching the televised broadcast of the Emperor's speech to his nation. The emperor was talking of war. Didn't he know where that led? War led to economic problems, the kind that forced Bradstreet out of his profitable job with Brown & Root, the kind that forced his wife into taking up a job and leaving their son in day care. Oh well. Nothing to do. No more investigations, certainly; the main suspect was dead. Heck, even the squad leader's probably been released - they need every man, don't they? Even murderers...

A tap at Bradstreet's shoulder ended his musings. A pudgy, dark-haired man, half a foot shorter than Louis, looked expectantly at him, then spoke in a quiet, insistent voice: "You from The Beltway? Wanna see General Nikita?"

"I'm American!" Louis said automatically, then, puzzling over what the man had said, asked him.

The pudgy man responded with a terse comment: "You do wanna see Nikita. Follow me." Louis, drunk and with nothing better to do, laid a $50 bill on the bar and left, fingering his service revolver.

After a brief walk, he found himself in a deserted alley, walking in step with the other man, who then suddenly turned and opened a door. Louis followed him inside, and was nearly blinded by the bright lights inside the room he stepped down into. There, like the man had promised, was General Nikita, breathing, clearly alive. Questions flew through Louis's startled mind, none of which he got the chance to ask, because Nikita then spoke, amused: "What, you thought that was me who the Emperor killed?"

To Be Continued...

OOC: Wow that was actually really good. Now this is more than just a war, it's a conspiracy! YAY! I was actually wanting it to be the emperor who sent some guys to pretend to be East Corinthians because he doesn't like them and wants a war without a big investigation about the general to cloud it up. Just watch out, there are security cams in the more public areas and a massive police force especially in Lakonia.;)

So anyway I'll probably start a new thread to deal with the war/conspiracy from here on. Don't expect to see it till tomorrow I have midterms tomorrow and I have to study the rest of afternoon. Maybe I'll get it up though.

OOC - It could be the Emperor, but remember that Nikita could be lying to save his skin. Or is it really Nikita? Ooh, more layers!

I'll have him explain how he survives in the next update, and will introduce our other investigators. If you don't mind, could make the advance into East Corinthia bog down? It will allow my investigators the breathing room they need to be ignored by the Emperor, who's too angry with his generals to notice my people. It will make the story more realistic.

Oh, and about the cameras: I'm assuming they've mostly shot up by one side or another during the street fighting. The cops? Well, they're cops. My people will find a way.

OOC: Well of course I can't sleep thinking about this so I had to put up the war thread. I also set up a nice little conflict for myself. The road my convoy is on is blocked and some special ops I flew in to take the town they need ahead of time are now cut off from any armored support and trapped in a church. Kind of like a "Bridge Too Far" scenario.

Ya I suppose most cameras would be down, or at least no one's watching the monitors. And I will give my police hell if they slack up on you! Don't think of them as merely cops either, they are just as trained as the regular army, though urban combat is their specialty. And they hate East Corinthians with a passion. Of course cops have to sleep.....and I just might relax their numbers to add more defense to Kydonia to protect the emperor. Plus they think the guy is dead....or is he? BWAHHAHA!
I'm so confused I don't know who's right anymore!
I suppose this can be the OOC thread for the war from now on.

On your cops: they hate East Corinthians, but how much do they like money? Not that I'm insinuating anything...
If there were an embedded reporter with the tanks, it would help to distract your people from mine..."Why aren't our tanks moving? Tonight at 11!" Maybe you have the reporter to show that you believe in a free press - after Lakonia, the eyes of the world are upon you.
Agreed that this will be the OOC thread. I'll continue the storyline in a new thread.
Nice work with the ambush(es). Both sides use Soviet equipment; further, East Corinthia keeps churches, although they don't care much about the safety of said churches in times of war.

OOC: Great for my troops.......I'd like at least some of them to survive. Let's not make this a massacre for my poor army. Also remember East Corinthia is a terrorist state, they are becoming more organized, but they are still just a bunch of factions with the most powerful being in command. The war shouldn't be the hard part, but the occupation rather. Kinda like the Iraq war. That doesn't mean I can't take losses though:(

This should be my lost post until tomorrow afternoon.

OOC: So are you gonna RP East Corinthia? Maybe you could be like some hidden faction that Nikita is really part of in East Corinthia but I RP the actual E.C. government/army. Then you sieze control of the country while I'm still hunting their troops in the desert.

You can handle the East Corinthians - let them fade (somewhat), but don't let them fold. I'll post part II of the conspiracy (!) storyline tonight - we're still on the evening of the war's beginning there.

Will it be in the same thread as the one I already have up? Kinda sounds like you're starting another. I just think it would be easier to be in one. Or maybe I just misinterpreted.:p

One works fine.

I just posted my latest update; in part III, you'll find out what a third member of the investigative team was doing that night, and the conspiracy might grow a bit.

OOC: Sounds good, except why did Nikita mention my Foreign Accountant? Am I going to lose him too? It took me hours to make up authentic-ish sounding names for my government posisitions:( *sigh* I guess I'll have to see what happens. Will be interesting to see when these two storylines crash into eachother. As for the military right now I'll concentrate on my troops trapped in the city and then later I'll continue my full army once the wreckage is cleared. Just let me know once your ready for me to pour on the OWNAGE!

Who's saying that Nikita, or possibly "Nikita," is telling the truth at all? All will become clear, in time. Yuri isn't dead; he is in danger. A possible name for a replacement could be Ivan Lubyantzeyev; it's a nice, Russian name.

A question, mostly separate from this storyline: is the current leader of West Corinthia an enlightened despot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightened_absolutism) or just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill dictator? It would certainly be more interesting to have enlightened despots in the modern era; could they justify their rule while maintaining a mostly free (in terms of civic and economic rights, although not in terms of political rights) system of government?

--Press Release issued by the office of Kweisi Mfume, Minister of Tourism of The Beltway--
Tourists are hereby advised to not travel to West Corinthia. Given the fighting going on in the east, and the likelihood of terrorist attacks in the west, the Tourism Ministry has determined that travel to West Corinthia is unsafe at this time.
--End of Press Release--

Sorry, but the government needed to act somehow with regards to the war. We aren't opposed to it, necessarily, although we would have preferred that West Corinthia not act so rashly; as far as the government knows, General Nikita was assassinated by East Corinthian terrorists - but, on the other hand, war should never be declared lightly, even for assassination. That's The Beltway's view of things, and that's how they'll handle this situation for now.

Just read your post. A poorly designed, or only partly-built, nuke could indeed be set off by an explosion - that's what sets off a nuclear bomb in the first place. However, the explosion would have to be under just the right set of circumstances (it would have had to push enough U-238 (weaponized uranium) into enough U-235 to set off a chain reaction). Not impossible, just difficult. Nice touch with the reporter, by the way.

OOC: You could say he's sort of enlightened. The people are given limited civil rights but as little political freedoms as possible.
As to the war, Vasili and Nikita were (I guess now they weren't) close friends in the KGB before the fall of the Soviet Union. He siezed power in West Corinthia and brought all his KGB friends to be on his government. So, naturally, his "friend" gets "killed," he declares war. That and he can do whatever he wants, and emotions usually get in the way of his decisions you will notice.

Corinthian Response
We are sorry to hear The Beltway advising tourists not to visit West Corinthia. It is probably for the best however, given the increased risk of terrorist attacks this war brings. Our police are working overtime tracking down any East Corinthians who have infiltrated our cities. At this time the only thing that can help us is your continued support.
-Nikolai Sergevich, West Corinthian Media Relations

Well I'm not an expert in atomic weapons. I just wanted something to go boom that let the rest of the army see something was happening in the city. I view the explosion as being non-nuclear, more like a suped up conventional warhead. That's why it was bigger, but still doesn't give off radiation or split atoms. Or have I watched too many movies?

Of course, it could just be a very large, non-atomic explosion; those do still produce mushroom clouds. That doesn't mean that the site won't look somewhat like that of the aftermath of the detonation of a small nuke; the radiation released from the uranium will be enough to make it appear like that.

Nice to see that you've made the Emperor something of an enlightened, but still human, despot. Enlightened despots never gave political rights; their philosophy was "All for the people; none by the people."

Vasili and Nikita might have been close friends; remember, just because he sounds like Nikita and looks like Nikita doesn't mean that "Nikita" is Nikita. Nikita could still be "Nikita," an actor or lookalike meant to deceive, embarrass, etc. All in due time, my friend...

OOC: While Vasili may act like an enlightened despot he may have different motives. Give the people a taste of civil rights to hold off any rebellious thoughts.:D
Maybe Nikita was cloned? A cloned Nikita is still Nikita but not "Nikita" Nikita. "Nikita" Nikita could have been assassinated and replaced by Nikita or Nikita was killed and replaced by "Nikita" NIkita. Maybe Nikita never really existed? Maybe they all existed. It does raise some thoughts...:rolleyes:
The government has unofficially released the following comic strip to describe recent events in East Corinthia: :mp5: :mp5: :sniper: :headbang: :mp5: :sniper:
Well I'm spent for tonight......

Nice way to use smilies so that they actually fit into a post! Although most comic strips are a bit larger than that...maybe it's written in ASCII?

I posted part III. Enjoy!

"Repítela un tiempo más, por favor; no puedo oírle..." means, roughly, "Repeat that once more please; I can't hear you..."

Part IV won't be out til Friday. Sorry.

OOC: Next part posted. And at the end the guy he is talking to is a secret for now but it's not anyone you currently know about nut you can get a sense of what he does by their conversation.

Excellent post! I especially like the Easterners' use of infilitration tactics; given their tendency towards underhanded tactics (like fortifying a church), I'm not surprised they used that.

Thoughts on my previous post? Joe Wilson and Agent Plame, by the way, are very important. You'll find out why, but not just yet.

Joe Wilson and Agent Plame, by the way, are very important. You'll find out why, but not just yet.

I can't wait.:D I can tell all your posts thus far are leading up to something important.. Didn't understand why the Spanish though...that doesn't matter. If you're curious, the official languages of West Corinthia are English, Russian, and Greek (in that order, though I only speak English so you'll never here my characters spoeaking the other two;) )

Spanish because that's what she's been trying to learn, not for any particular current reason.

I'm learning Spanish, and thought I'd try to use a bit.

Just posted Part IV. Sorry about the delays; it will be another few days before Part V comes out.

OOC: I'm getting ready to post my next part. Just wanted to show you a picture of Vasili Kotov, for no reason really:
http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2003/screen0/378093_20030825_screen004.jpg
EDIT: Next part posted, it's entirely from the East Corinthian perspective, just so you don't get confused.

Nice post, but I'm curious how the scientists escaped from Ekaterine.

OOC: Well I assume they left their lab in the city when war was declared. Kinda ran away in fear which of course doesn't get a good reaction from the government.:p

That makes sense now. What did you think of my last post?

OOC: It was good. Seems like "Nikita" has some kind of crime syndicate in Lakonia now. And the thugs using nightsticks obviously weren't aiming at killing your guy. I look forward to the next post. Once you do I'll attack their capital and hopefully begin the occupation.

Part Five is up! Go conquer East Corinthia; my investigators will catch you in the end, as incompetent as they are.

Nice job organizing your investigators. I like their unique personalities. Anyway, my next part is up. It'll take me probably one more post to finish them off. I think it's about time I gave that colonel a name....

Sorry about the incredible length of time I've kept you waiting for Part VI. It will be up tonight; expect 1-2 posts a week.

Part the Sixth (gotta love your Dickens!) is up. And no, Plame doesn't kill Gonzalez; they're fellow intelligence operatives. I'll be following Gonzalez and Plame for the next few parts.

Next part up;)

Sewers? Ugh; glad I'm not in that army. Certainly an inventive tactic, however...thoughts on my post?

You keep introducing a lot of interesting characters and I don't know where it's going, but I can't wait until they all get together and solve the conspiracy or at least make some breakthrough.;)

I forgot about this; my sincerest apologies. However, the plot will resume...now (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10462745&postcount=16)!

Oh, and please note that the conversation I just described is unheard, being in the middle of an alley.

Sorry for naming, and then killing off, a general; I hope you don't mind.

Part 8 up. A bit short; part nine will follow sooner or later.